The UK has revoked permission for a unit of a French bank to carry out regulated activity in the City of London after the lender decided not to apply for a permanent post-Brexit authorization.
(Bloomberg) — The UK has revoked permission for a unit of a French bank to carry out regulated activity in the City of London after the lender decided not to apply for a permanent post-Brexit authorization.
Lyonnaise de Banque, part of the Credit Mutuel group, missed its “landing slot” to apply for permanent authorization in the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a statement Wednesday. This is the first time that a firm in the so-called temporary permissions regime has lost the status, although in a statement the French firm noted its UK activities already take place through another unit.
Credit Mutuel “and its subsidiary CIC pursue 100% of their activities in the UK through CIC London, their British unit that has been present in London for more than 127 years,” the French lender said in an emailed statement. “CIC Lyonnaise de Banque, a regional bank that has no activity in the UK, has decided not to renew its authorization application.”
Lyonnaise de Banque was directed to apply for full permission in the first quarter of 2022, the FCA said in a final notice accompanying the statement.
The regime was designed as a stopgap to ensure that European firms operating in the UK before the Brexit transition period ended in 2020, could continue to do business while seeking full authorization. The regulator said on Wednesday that it will take “swift action to cancel permissions” if companies fail to apply for authorization by the end of the year.
Read more: Why London’s Brexit ‘Big Bang’ Won’t Be Such a Blast: QuickTake
(Updates with bank statement throughout)
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